Vehicle pilot or wheel guard



July 8, 1930.

c. B. JONES VEHICLE PILOT OR WHEEL GUARD Filed NOV. 16, 1929 Inventor By W A itomey Patented July 8, 1930 PATENT OFFICE orrAnnY IB. aromas, on FULTON, -KENTUCKY VEHICLE Error on Wi-lIEEL GUARD Application filed November 16, 1929. Serial No. 407,692.

' This invention relates to a vehicle pilot or wheel guard and more particularly to a device of this character which is especially adapted for use on vehicles which run on .5. rails but it is to be understood that. a device constructed in accordance with this invention may be mounted for use on any type of vehicle for which the sameis found adapted,

such as an automobile. An important objectof the invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a device of the aforementioned character having means for preventing an objectwhich may be in the path of the vehicle from getting under the wheels thereof when struck thereby, said means being automatically operated by contact with-the object which is struck.

Another important object of the invention is'to provide a vehicle pilot or wheel guard of the aforementioned character having means thereon for automatically returning the same to-its inoperative position at the propertime.

Otherobjects of the invention are to provide a device of the character set forth which 2 will be simple in constructiomstrong, durable, efficient in its use and which may be manufactured at low cost.

Still further objects of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a vehicle pilot or wheel guard constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof. V Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially'on the line 33 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the referencecharacter 1 designates generally asup- 5 porting bracket or structure which is adapted to be secured to a convenient portion of the vehicle frame or chassis forwardly of thefront wheel thereof and said bracket comprises a strip 2 having a forwardly and horizontally disposed portion 3 which terminates in'a downwardly extending portion 4 at its forward end and upon the lower end of the portion 4 an eye 5 (see Figure 2) is formed.

The strip 2 is mounted on the forward side of a strip 6 which is provided with a forward lyextending substantially U-shaped portion 7 on its lower end which is secured to the portion3 of the strip 2 through the medium of the bolt 8 and the bight portion thereof is provided with a rectangular opening 9 the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully -set forth. A straight strip 10 is mount ed onthe rear side of the strip 6 and its lower end projects below the vertical portion of said strip 6 as seen most clearly in Figure 1 of the drawing. A brace 11 is anchored to the depending end of the strip 10 and extends forwardlyand downwardly. therefrom into engagement with the lower end portion of the U-shaped portion 7 for the purpose of 7 strengthening the same. The strips 2, 6 and 10 are secured together by suitable means such as stud bolts. the'heads of which are indicated by 12 in Figure 1 of the drawings. A'rectangular bar 13 is mounted for vertical sliding movement in the U-shaped portion 7 of the bracket and said bar extends downwardly through the opening 9 in the bight portion thereof and has integrally mounted on its lower end the shoe or deflector head 14. Upon the upper end of the bar 13 there is formed an integral reduced shank 15 of circular cross section having its upper end por tion threaded anda nut 16 threaded thereon. The upper end of the bar 13 engages against the adjacent face of the portion 3 of the bracket and the shank 15 extends upwardly therefrom through'a circular opening (not shown); An eXpansible coil spring 17 has its opposite ends impinged. on the portion 3 and the lower side of the nut 16, respectively, for maintaining the bar 13 and shoe 14 in raised'position. i e A,

A pair of spaced'parallel arms 18 are piv otally mounted, intermediate their ends, on the lower end of the portion/i of the bracket through the medium of the pivot bolt 20 which extends transversely therethrough and throughthe eye 5 on the lower end of said portion 4. The rear end portions of the arms 18 are pivotally connected to the bar'13 in a manner to shift said bar vertically in the por tion 7 when said arms are swung on theipivot bolt 20 through the medium of a transversely extending bolt 21 which extends through a slot 22 in the bar. The forward ends of the arms 18 terminate in right angularly. disg v posed downwardly extending portions 23 between the lower end portions of which is jour naled a roller 24 which is mounted for rotation onthebolt 25. A transverse brace 26 extends between the forward portion offthe j arms 18 for strengthening the same.

In the use of the invention, when the same is" mounted 'on'zal rail vehicle, the roller 24 is disposed closeto the top surface'of the rail I and when the same comes into contact with an,

- object which is on the rail the roller tends to ride over said-object with the'result that the rear ends of the arms 18 will be swung down- 'wardly and .the bar13 together with the shoe 14 will be forced downwardly intoengagement with the rail against the tension of the spring 17; If desired, suitable means may be 7 provided for warning the operator of theve hicle when an object has'been struck, such as suitable contactsprovided on the devicejin such a manner that a" circuit will be closed and a visible oraudible signal given'which will'be seen by said operator. It is further withinthe contemplation of this invention that the same may be suitablyicoupled to the braking system'of the vehicle in a manner-to automatically apply thebrakes by the move mentof the invention into operative position. When the object has been removed from beneath the roller 2-ft the expansible spring 17 will be permitted to raise the bar 13 and shoe 14: thereon out of engagement with thetrack.

and the roller 24 will, of course, return to its lowered position adjacent said track.

It is believed that the many advantages of a device constructedin accordance withthis invention will bereadily understood, and'al though the preferred embodiment of the in vention is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that-changes in the details of construction may be had which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

hat is claimed is 1. A vehicle pi'lot or wheel guard of the character described comprising abracket, a spring controlled bar mounted for' vertical reciprocation on the bracket, 'a rail engaging shoe on the lower end; of the bar, a pair of arms pivotally mounted on the bracket forwardly of the bar and having their rear end portions pivotally coupled thereto and a roller journaled between the forward ends of the arms and adapted'to rock the same when said roller engages'an object in its path of travel for shifting the shoe into engagement with the rail. a

2. A vehicle pilot or wheel guard of the character described comprising a, bracket adapted to be mounted on said vehicle forwardly of the front Wheel thereof, a vertically disposed rectangularbar mounted for vertical sliding'lnovement on the bracket, a

rail engaging shoe on the lower end of the bar, a threaded shank extending upwardly fromthe upper end of the bar and formed integrally therewith, a nut threaded on the free end portionof the shank, an expansible spring encircling the shank and impinged againstthe nut thereon and the bracketqfor yieldingly maintaining the barand the shoe inraised' position, a pairofactuating arms wardly of the front wheel thereof, and including a plurality of fiat metallic strips superimposedupon each other, one of said stripsbeing provided with a forwardly extending horizontally disposed portion terminating in a downwardly extending portion, a

journal :eye on the lower end of'the downwardly extending portion, the horizontally disposed portion being provided with a transverse opening, another. strip having a substantially U-shaped portion disposed beneath the horizontally disposed portion of the first named strip and having the bight of its U- shaped portion provided with an opening in vertical alignment with'the opening in the horizontal portion of the first named strip, a vertically disposed bar mounted for vertical sliding movement in the U-shaped portion of thesecond-named strip and extending through the opening in the bight thereof, a rail engaging shoe on the lower end of the bar, an upwardly extending threadedshank on the upper end of the bar extending through the opening in the horizontaliportion of the first-named strip, said shank of less diameter than said bar, said bar having its upper end adapted to engage said horizontal portion to limit the upward movement of the bar, a'nut threaded on the free end portion of the'shank, an expansible spring impinged against the nut and the horizontal portion, a pair of actuating arms pivotally mounted in the eye on the bracket and having their rear end portions pivotally coupled to the bar, the forward portions of said arms extending downwardly at right angles, and a roller journaled between the lower end portions of the arms and adapted for engagement With an object in its path of travel for rocking the arms in a manner to shift the shoe into engagement With the rail.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHANEY B. JONES. 

